Goats
Popular Swiss goat breeds include the Saanen goat, Toggenburg goat and the Chamois Coloured mountain goat. The white, short-haired Saanen goat is well suited for milk production. It originates from the Saanenland and Obersimmental regions. The Toggenburg goat is also a milk-producing breed. This breed is characterised by its long hair on its back and thighs. The Chamois Coloured mountain goat, which also produces good milk yields, has the most herdbook-registered animals. It is brown-black and thus resembles – as the name suggests – a chamois.
In addition to the main breeds, Switzerland is also home to endangered goat breeds. These include the Appenzell goat, the Bündner Strahlenziege, the Nera Verzasca, the Valais Blackneck and the Peacock goat. There are also imported breeds recognised in Switzerland such as the Anglo-Nubian, Boer goat and the Tauernscheck.
Swiss goat breeds
White, grey-mottled, copper-coloured, black, long-haired, short-haired, with or without horns: Switzerland’s goat breeds are colourful and diverse – and not well-known at all. Find out more about these intelligent and curious animals.
Battle against scrub encroachment
Goats are ruminants with a wide variety of preferences when it comes to food. Besides hay, they also like to eat leaves, bark and shrubs. They are therefore well suited for use in the battle against scrub encroachment on Alpine meadows. They successfully push back trees and bushes and in doing so promote the biodiversity of Alpine pastures.
Goats are climbing artists
The ancestors of domestic goats come from the high mountains. It is for this reason that they are excellent climbers. This allows them to reach feeding areas that are not accessible to most other animals. They are also able to climb trees.
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Meat
Swiss meat stands for the utmost quality, which requires high-quality meat-processing workmanship alongside high animal welfare and health standards. Pork and beef are the favorite meat varieties in Switzerland.
Sandra Fitze
Goats are Sandra Fitze’s great passion in life. She keeps 250 animals at the Hofberghof farm in Wil, where you can find a variety of goat-milk products in her farm shop.
